It’s been a few months since we gathered the latest social media changes and updates, meaning it’s high time for a round-up! These are some of the notable changes across the most popular platforms.

Facebook

Recently, Facebook has made several efforts to make their platform more video-friendly, taking a few pages out of YouTube’s book. Early this month they rolled out the “related videos” feature, which you’ve probably noticed in your news feed. Just as it sounds, this tool suggests similar videos under those that your friends or pages you follow have posted. A few weeks later they introduced the “Save” feature, which allows users who are interested in video content, but don’t watch to watch it right that moment, to save it to watch at a later time. This mimics YouTube’s “Watch Later” function.

Though these features do help users find and watch more video content, Facebook’s motives aren’t entirely altruistic. By testing these features they are establishing which users like videos and which prefer not to watch videos on Facebook, thus creating a basis for targeting when video ads fully roll out on the platform.

Pinterest

With every update Pinterest makes it is clear that their main goal in improving its platform is to allow users to quickly and easily find content in which they are interested. Several recent updates have reflected this dedication to usability. First in June they introduced Guided Search to desktop users, a feature that had only previously been available via the mobile app. Then mid-July they announced that users would now be able to follow specific interests in addition to following other users and boards, making it easier than ever to find pins related to say, baking, from a variety of users than ever before.

In an effort to fund these improvements, Pinterest is very upfront about the fact that they are monetizing pins via Promoted Pins. While they have been testing this concept with big brands for some time, this summer they launched a waitlist that small businesses can sign up for to gain access to DIY PPC promoted pins. We’ve already sign our Pinterest clients up and can’t wait to start playing with this feature!

Google+

One of the most frequent complaints Google received after syncing Google+ with YouTube was the need to have your real name displayed in your Google+ profile and when posting comments on YouTube videos. In response, Google removed profile name restrictions, allowing users to display any name of their choice.

YouTube

Google has also made an effort to improve YouTube by removing suspended accounts in order to give users a true sense of their subscriber counts.

LinkedIn

This professional platform has introduced several features to increase its value to users. Several months ago, they launched the “portfolio” function that allows users to publicly display their work directly on their profiles. An especially useful feature for visual content creators like graphic designers and photographers! They also rolled out LinkedIn Pulse, which consolidates the news on LinkedIn allowing users to view post on topics they’re most interested in and from thought leaders in the field.

Twitter

It’s also important to note Twitter’s Profile redesign. They’ve added a larger cover photo and increased the profile image size, resulting in a layout that very much resembles Facebook’s cover and profile photos. This update is further evidence that images are becoming increasingly important in today’s social media landscape.